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Teach Ag leader dives into ag educator needs

An agricultural education associate professor says ag teacher retention is just as important as recruitment.

Aaron McKim with Michigan State University has been studying what changes could reduce teacher shortages.

“Maybe it’s the system of agricultural education, or the system of a school system, or the community, or something else that might be pushing the agriculture teacher out,” he explains. “They may want to stay. They may have all the capacity to stay, but it might be something broader that’s pushing them.”

Also on the National FFA Board of Directors, Mckim tells Brownfield teacher shortages are widespread.

“We want successful ag programs, we want communities to have an input in it, but we need communities to understand that if you push for more without acknowledging what’s going on currently, that can have negative consequences for the sustainability of the program,” he says.

He says communities should celebrate what agricultural programs are accomplishing while being respectful of a teacher’s limits.

“We’ve done some research on this, retaining teachers early in their careers while they’re getting their footing, learning the career, keeping them through those first three to five years is critically important.”

McKim says Michigan this year has transitioned from a five to a four-year teaching certification program which is also expected to help with teacher needs.

McKim was recently recognized as the North Central Region Distinguished Agricultural Teacher Educator by the American Association for Agricultural Education.

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